The God of the North Wind
Friday 24 Sept 2021 | 7.30pm
St Thomas Church, Lymington
Programme
Eduardo SOUTULLO Piano Trio ‘Qebui’*
MOZART Clarinet Quintet KV 581
Interval
Huw WATKINS Selection of works
BORODIN String Quartet No. 2
Aleksey Semenenko, violin
Tamsin Waley-Cohen, violin
Christian Elliott, cello
Huw Watkins, piano
* The winning work of last year’s SMF Lawson-May Award for Composition (Qebui is the Egyptian God of the North Wind)
Aleksey Semenenko
After his Kennedy Center debut, the Washington Post wrote: “Semenenko … explored every corner of the composer’s imagination … a real triumph”. Shortly thereafter, the New York Times raved that his New York appearance was “particularly enriching”. At least since winning the prestigious Young Concert Artists Auditions in New York in 2012, the young violinist Aleksey Semenenko has belonged to the world’s elite violinists and can look forward to lively concerts in Europe and the USA, as a soloist and chamber musician.
As the winner of the Boris Goldstein International Violin Competition in 2015, he was invited to perform at the Musical Olympus Festival in St Petersburg, where he received the Audience Award and then made his debut with the Moscow Philharmonic. In addition, he won 2nd prize at the renowned Queen Elisabeth Competition in Brussels, also in 2015. The violinist’s other awards include the “Artist of the Month” award from the magazine “Musical America Worldwide”.
The musician’s most recent engagements include appearances in the Berlin Philharmonic, the Cologne Philharmonic, the Philharmonic in Essen, the Louvre in Paris, the Palais de Beaux-Arts in Brussels, the Alice Tully Hall in New York, the Moscow Philharmonic and the Concertgebouw-Orkest in Amsterdam.
Born in Odessa in 1988, Aleksey started studying violin at the age of 6 with Zoya Merzalova, who also trained Yuri Bashmet. His talent was recognized early on when he won a children’s music festival in Odessa just a year later and made his debut as a soloist with the Odessa Philharmonic Orchestra. Many important appearances followed quickly, including with the Moscow Virtuosos under the direction of Vladimir Spivakov.
After Aleksey completed his concert exam studies with Zakhar Bron in Cologne, he is currently studying chamber music with Prof. Harald Schoneweg, also at the Cologne University of Music. He plays a Stradivarius violin from 1699, which was made available to him by the Deutsche Stiftung Musikleben.
Tamsin Waley-Cohen
Born in London, Tamsin Waley-Cohen enjoys an adventurous and varied career. In addition to concerts with the Royal Philharmonic, London Philharmonic, Hallé, Liverpool Philharmonic, Czech Philharmonic, Yomiuri Nippon Symphony, Royal Northern Sinfonia and BBC orchestras, amongst others, she has twice been associate artist with the Orchestra of the Swan and works with conductors including Andrew Litton, Vasily Petrenko, Ben Gernon, Ryan Bancroft and Tamás Vásáry.
Her duo partners include James Baillieu and Huw Watkins. She gave the premiere of Watkins’ Concertino, and in Summer 2020 will premiere a new work for violin and piano with him at Wigmore Hall. She is thrilled to be a Signum Classics Artist. With her sister, composer Freya Waley-Cohen, and architects Finbarr O’Dempsey and Andrew Skulina, she held an Open Space residency at Aldeburgh, culminating in the 2017 premiere of Permutations at the Aldeburgh Festival, an interactive performance artwork synthesising music and architecture. Her love of chamber music led her to start the Honeymead Festival, now in its twelth year, from which all proceeds go to support local charities.
She is a founding member of the Albion string quartet, appearing regularly with them at venues including Wigmore Hall, Aldeburgh Festival, and the Concertgebouw. In 2016-2017 she was the UK recipient of the ECHO Rising Stars Awards, playing at all the major European concert halls and premiering Oliver Knussen’s Reflection, written especially for her and Huw Watkins. In the 2018-19 season she toured Japan and China, and gave her New York Debut recital at the Frick.
She is Artistic Director of the Two Moors Festival, and has previously been Artistic Director of the Music Series at the Tricyle Theatre, London, and the Bargello festival in Florence. She studied at the Royal College of Music and her teachers included Itzhak Rashkovsky, Ruggiero Ricci and András Keller.
Christian Elliott
Christian Elliott enjoys a varied career as chamber musician, orchestral musician, and soloist. He was appointed Principal Cellist of the Irish Chamber Orchestra in 2016, with whom he has appeared as soloist and director. He is also a member of the Phoenix Piano Trio whose upcoming discs feature works by Robert and Clara Schumann, Niels Gade, Brahms, and Mendelssohn.
Christian joined the Zehetmair Quartet in March 2014, which performs string quartets written as late as the mid-20th century from memory. They have also recorded and premiered several works by the Swiss composer, oboist, and conductor Heinz Holliger. Christian was recommended to that position by Steven Isserlis. Appearances with the quartet include the Lucerne Festival, Wigmore Hall, Berlin Konzerthaus, Concertgebouw, Vienna Konzerthaus, Zurich Tonhalle, and the Edinburgh International Festival.
Christian has played as guest principal with the Scottish Chamber Orchestra, the BBC Philharmonic Orchestra, the Welsh National Opera Orchestra, the RTE Concert Orchestra, the Ulster Orchestra, the RSNO, the Royal Northern Sinfonia, and the Halle Orchestra.
Resident in Edinburgh, Christian is a founding member of the Raeburn Quartet which performs on classical period instruments. He is also a frequent guest member of existing chamber groups, such as the Arowonitz, Hebrides, and Mercury Ensembles. He was formerly a member of McGill University’s Lloyd Carr-Harris String Quartet awarded the Grand Prize at the Fischoff International Chamber Music Competition.
In October 2011, as soloist, Christian premiered Kevin Malone’s “E pluribus unum” for cello and orchestra with the Nottingham Philharmonic, and he is featured on Kevin Malone’s new disc of compositions entitled “The Music of 9/11” on the Prima Facie label, performing Requiem77 for solo cello and recorded voices. In a rare stroke of fate, in May 2009 a cellist booked to perform Samuel Barber’s Cello Concerto injured himself two evenings before the concert, and Christian undertook the role of soloist at this incredibly short notice. He later performed the concerto again, with the RNCM Chamber Orchestra, in 2010.
Also a composer, Christian premiered his own string sextet composition at Wigmore Hall in July 2012, commissioned by Steven Isserlis to commemorate the Prussia Cove International Musicians Seminar’s 40th anniversary. Other commissions include a work for the Francoise-Green Piano Duo, and a solo viola work for Ruth Killius.
Christian began his musical studies with his father, guitarist Garry Elliott, at the age of nine. Having always loved the cello’s sound, when he was 13 he had the opportunity to learn the cello with Pawel Szymczyk-Marjanovic. He furthered his studies with Don Whitton and Thomas Wiebe, before taking his Bachelors degree at McGill University with Matt Haimovitz. Subsequently he studied at Manchester’s Royal Northern College of Music with Hannah Roberts and Ralph Kirshbaum, taking part in masterclasses with Steven Isserlis, Frans Helmerson, and Miklós Perenyi.
Huw Watkins
“Watkins’s argument — full of surprises, although easily followed — began with a throbbing crotchet pulse led by the violas, layered above with curling phrases biting each other’s tails. From this point Watkins built a fast, exciting, harmonically plush edifice, rich in calls and responses, and spiralling climaxes cut off to reveal thoughtful musings percolating underneath.” – Geoff Brown on Symphony, The Times
Huw Watkins was born in Wales in 1976 and studied piano with Peter Lawson at Chetham’s School of Music and composition with Robin Holloway, Alexander Goehr and Julian Anderson at Cambridge and the Royal College of Music. In 2001 he was awarded the Constant and Kit Lambert Junior Fellowship at the Royal College of Music, where he later taught composition. He currently teaches composition at the Royal Academy of Music.
Watkins has written concertos for a number of high-profile soloists, including the widely acclaimed Violin Concerto (2010) for Alina Abragimova, premiered by BBC Symphony Orchestra with Edward Gardner. London Symphony Orchestra has commissioned two concertos: London Concerto (2005) and the Flute Concerto (2013) for Adam Walker, premiered under Daniel Harding in 2014. His longstanding relationship with the BBC National Orchestra of Wales has resulted in a number of works, including a Piano Concerto (2001-5) premiered in 2002 with the composer at the piano, and a Double Concerto (2004-5) premiered by Philip Dukes (viola) and Josephine Knight (cello). As Composer in Association, Watkins wrote the Cello Concerto (2016) for his brother Paul Watkins, premiered at the BBC Proms under Thomas Søndergård, Spring (2017) for orchestra premiered with Ryan Wigglesworth, and The Moon for chorus and orchestra, which premieres at the 2019 Proms. In 2017, the Hallé Orchestra commissioned Watkins’ Symphony, premiered under Music Director Sir Mark Elder. 2020 began with the world premiere of Dawning for Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra.
A wealth of chamber music is central to Watkins’ output, complementing his parallel career as a pianist. His solo violin Partita (2006) was written for Alina Ibragimova and the viola Fantasy (2006) was written for Lawrence Power. Long-time supporters the Nash Ensemble commissioned a Horn Trio (2008), and his String Quartet (2013) for the Carducci Quartet was a commission from the Manchester Chamber Concerts Society. Among works for his brother Paul Watkins is Blue Shadows Fall (2012-13) commissioned by Chamber Music Society Lincoln Center, who co-commissioned Watkins’ Piano Quintet with Wigmore Hall, premiered in April 2018. Wakins’ Four Fables (2018), commissioned by clarinettist Robert Plane and the Gould Piano Trio, received its premiere at the Three Choirs Festival and has received numerous repeat performances. Seven Inventions for piano and marimba was written for Colin Currie and premiered at the 2019 East Neuk Festival in Scotland with the composer at the piano. The duo will perform the work in a number of concerts in upcoming seasons, with performances scheduled at Wigmore Hall as well as in Ireland and the US.
Watkins is increasingly recognised as a sensitive composer for the voice. In My Craft or Sullen Art (2007) for tenor and string quartet, was written for Mark Padmore and the Petersen Quartet and premiered at Wigmore Hall, and Five Larkin Songs (2009-10) for soprano and piano, written for Carolyn Sampson, won a British Composer Award. He has written two song cycles for Ruby Hughes: Remember (2014) for soprano and string orchestra, and Echo (2017) for soprano and piano, which was commissioned jointly by Carnegie Hall and the Presteigne Festival. His Four Sonnets (2014) for tenor and piano premiered at the 2014 Cheltenham Festival in 2014 with Mark Padmore. Watkins has a growing body of choral works written for, among others, Stile Antico and the Choir of King’s College Cambridge, who commissioned a new carol for the 2017 Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols.
Music Theatre Wales has commissioned two chamber operas, both with libretti by David Harsent: Crime Fiction (2008) followed by In the Locked Room (2011-12), a co-commission with Scottish Opera which received a new production at Staatsoper Hamburg in 2015 and at the Royal College of Music in July 2018.
As one of the UK’s finest pianists Watkins has premiered works by Oliver Knussen, Mark-Anthony Turnage, John Woolrich and Michael Zev Gordon and has performed concertos with numerous leading orchestras including the BBC Symphony Orchestra and London Sinfonietta. His recordings include chamber music discs on Chandos, Signum and Nimbus; Alexander Goehr’s piano cycle Symmetry Disorders Reach on Wergo; and music by Knussen on NMC.
Watkins’ own music has been recorded for NMC: In my craft or sullen art, a chamber music disc, was widely praised following its release in 2012, and a second disc of orchestral music, Symphony, was released in 2018. His Five Larkin Songs were recorded by Carolyn Sampson and Joseph Middleton on BIS in 2020.
Huw Watkins was awarded the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center’s Elise L. Stoeger Prize in 2016.